Chapter Thirteen

1–16. The proclamation to the people of the laws concerning the consecration of the firstborn and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 17–22. The journey toward the Red Sea and the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.

Exodus 13:1. And the Lord said to Moses, saying: Exodus 13:2. Consecrate to Me every firstborn, that opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal; they are Mine. The firstborn of the Hebrews and the firstborn of their cattle were saved by the Lord from death on the night of the departure of Israel from Egypt (Exod 11:7). Being saved by God, they constituted His own property: “they are Mine,” belonging to Him (Num 3:13). Therefore, they were to be consecrated, set apart (Exod 13:12); the firstborn of men were given to God’s service, which follows with certainty from the later substitution of the service of the firstborn with the service of the Levites (Num 3:41), and the firstborn of clean animals were offered in sacrifice to God (Exod 13:15).

Exodus 13:3. And Moses said to the people: Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out from there, and you shall not eat leavened bread. Exodus 13:4. Today you are departing, in the month of Abib. Exodus 13:5. And when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, then you shall observe this service in this month. Exodus 13:6. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day shall be a feast to the Lord. Exodus 13:7. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and leavened bread shall not be found with you, and no leavened bread shall be found with you in all your territory. Exodus 13:8. And you shall tell your son on that day, saying: This is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. Exodus 13:9. And this shall be a sign to you on your hand and a memorial on your forehead, so that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for by a strong hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. Exodus 13:10. You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. The observance of the law concerning unleavened bread belongs to the time of permanent settlement in the promised land. In accord with this, in another place Moses says: “There you must not do everything as we do now here, each as he sees fit” (Deut 12:8). And indeed, if throughout the entire period of wandering to the borders of the promised land the Hebrews had no flour and their bread was manna (Exod 16:35, Josh 5:11-12), then it is obvious that until the time of settlement in Canaan the Hebrews did not have the material to prepare unleavened bread, nor could they observe the law concerning it.

Exodus 13:11. And when the Lord brings you into the land of Canaan, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you— Exodus 13:12. You shall set apart to the Lord all that opens the womb; and every firstborn of your animals that is male, you shall consecrate to the Lord. Exodus 13:13. But every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, you shall break its neck. And every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. Exodus 13:14. And when your son asks you in the future, saying: What is this? you shall say to him: By a strong hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of slavery. Exodus 13:15. For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man to the firstborn of animal. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that opens the womb, all the males, and every firstborn of my sons I redeem. Exodus 13:16. And this shall be a sign on your hand and a frontlet between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt. Moses prefaces the proclamation of the laws of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the consecration of the firstborn with an account of their origins. The events that brought them into being should be a sign on the Hebrew’s hand and “a memorable frontlet before his eyes,” that is, they should be clear, vivid, one might say, palpable to the same degree as a sign on the hand or a frontlet on the eyes is palpable. The heart of every Hebrew should be permeated with thoughts of them (Deut 11:18-19), and therefore the very laws will never be consigned to oblivion. The remembrance of the day of departure from Egypt will be accompanied by the observance of the law concerning unleavened bread, since the eating of “bread of affliction”—unleavened bread—is a visible expression of remembrance of this event (Deut 16:3). Like the law concerning the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the law concerning the consecration of firstborn men and animals should be observed from the time of settlement in the promised land. Since by that time the service at the tabernacle had already fallen to the Levites (Num 8:5-6), the consecration of firstborn men is replaced by the payment of a ransom prescribed by the law (Exod 34:20, Num 18:15). The firstborn of unclean animals cannot be offered in sacrifice (Exod 13:15); therefore, it is either replaced by a clean animal (Exod 34:20) or ransomed (Num 18:15).

Exodus 13:17. When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said: “Lest the people change their mind when they see war, and return to Egypt. Weakened by prolonged slavery, unprepared to resist the warlike Philistines, who at that time were on friendly terms with the Egyptians, the Hebrews could not have withstood a clash with them; faced with the horrors of war, they could have preferred the hardship of Egyptian slavery and thus returned to Egypt. Therefore the Lord did not lead them to the land of Canaan in a northeasterly direction, through the territory of the land of the Philistines.

Exodus 13:18. And God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt. Instead of the northeasterly route, the Lord chose a direction toward “the Sea of Reeds,” that is, as is evident from Num 33:10, toward the Red Sea.

Exodus 13:19. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the children of Israel swear, saying: “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry my bones away with you from here. See Gen 50:25-26.

Exodus 13:20. And they took their journey from Succoth, and camped in Etham, at the edge of the wilderness. Going from Succoth in an easterly direction, the Hebrews came to Etham, lying “at the edge of the wilderness.” According to Num 33:6, it was located on the edge of the wilderness, and through this same wilderness of Etham, otherwise called Sur (Exod 15:22), the Hebrews traveled for three days after crossing the Red Sea (Num 33:8). And since the wilderness of Sur-Etham belonged to the Stony Arabia, the place of the second Hebrew camp was located somewhere at the junction of this wilderness with Egypt. At the present time, based on an Egyptian papyrus describing the flight of a certain Sinuhe from Egypt through the eastern border along a line of fortifications, Etham is considered to be one of the Egyptian fortresses intended to block the invasion of Asian nomads into Egypt from the east. Some indication of this is found in the name “Etham” itself, which is similar to the Egyptian designation of these fortresses—“hetam.”

Exodus 13:21. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they might travel by day and by night. Exodus 13:22. The pillar of cloud did not depart from before them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night. The difficulty of travel through the wilderness (Etham at the edge of the wilderness) called forth special divine protection: by day the pillar of cloud protected the Hebrews from heat, and at night, becoming fire, illuminated their way. The identification of this phenomenon with caravan fires has no basis whatsoever. According to the testimony of Exod 40:34 and Num 9:15-23, the departure of the Hebrews and their halts were determined by the movement of the cloud and its stopping; the relationship between the movement of caravan fires and the people is the reverse. Likewise, in the Pentateuch there is not a single passage on the basis of which one could understand the fiery clouded pillar as natural smoke or fire. On the contrary, everywhere (Exod 13:21-22, Num 9:15-16, Ps 77:14) this phenomenon is depicted as a sign of the presence of the Most High. * * * Notes In the month of grain ears.